Hosea 14:1-4
Israel, return! Come back
to the Lord, your God.
Sin has made you fall.
Return to the Lord and say,
“Please forgive our sins.
Accept our good sacrifices
of praise instead of bulls.
Assyria can’t save us,
and chariots can’t help.
So we will no longer worship
the idols we have made.
Our Lord, you show mercy
to orphans.”
Israel, you have rejected me,
but my anger is gone;
I will heal you and love you
without limit.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
Albert
Einstein is credited with saying that “the definition of insanity is
doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different
results!” By this “definition,” we are all more than a little insane.
We know that eating too much and sitting on our duffs will likely keep
us from being fit and healthy...yet we continue to stuff our faces with
all the wrong things and slack on the exercise regimens. We know that
other habits will produce unhealthy results, also...yet we can’t seem to
kick them, either!
We understand that a negative attitude breeds
negativity in those around us...yet we continue to gossip, backbite,
speak and think cynically, and treat others unkindly. We even say we
understand that we need to study God’s word, communicate with Him
continually in prayer and meditation (listening), and fellowship with
other believers who can encourage us in order to be healthy spiritually.
But many of us spend more time watching TV and surfing the Internet
than we would ever hope to spend strengthening our relationship with
God...and then we wonder why our lives seem to be coming apart at the
seams – or are far less satisfying and “successful” than we would hope
in so many areas.
Quite honestly, we are the modern-day “children
of Israel”. God has given us every chance in the book to make changes
and do better...and we continue to falter and/or fail. But here’s the
Good News. God will not give up on us! He offers us a chance to make
things right. If we are truly repentant, He will heal us and love us
like we never imagined possible.
We really can break the
cycle...we most certainly can do better and “get healthy” – not just
spiritually, but in other ways, as well. And it begins with our
admission that we have failed to be obedient...that we have worshipped
“idols” rather than God – money, fame or “success”, possessions,
friends, other people and relationship, and more...that we have not
listened to God and sought a deep and abiding relationship and continual
dialogue with Him. God will honor true repentance. He knows when we are
genuine and sincere...and when we aren’t. IF we come to him with an
apologetic heart...and an authentic desire to change, He will heal us
and forgive us - and set us upright.
God is willing to forgive
and restore us. It may seem like insanity to think that He would do
this over and over again, but the only “insane” thing about it is how
madly in love God is with each of us! He is willing to do whatever it
takes to maintain a relationship with us...but we have to be willing to
give Him our heart and soul – quite literally.
We have to be
ready to truly lay down our “idols” and do whatever God asks of
us...whenever and wherever we are needed. In return, He will say, “My
anger is gone, and I am ready to heal you and love you without limit.”
Are you ready to accept His gifts and be healed?
©2014 Debbie Robus
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